


Fields Beyond Fields

by angeldescendant



Series: crouching bunny, hidden lynx [1]
Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Dark!Eiji, Gen, Noir/Roadtrip fic of sorts, Okumura Eiji Needs a Hug, Post-Canon, ending spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-13 05:33:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16886577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angeldescendant/pseuds/angeldescendant
Summary: Eiji finally snaps."Was there ever a thought of you taking him to Japan?" Charlie had the guts to ask as he went through the last set of pictures."I gave him a ticket. Sing said he was coming to see me when the time came." Eiji laughed at this. "Must've changed his mind."





	Fields Beyond Fields

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this during my flight back home. Go figure.
> 
> Part of my dark!Eiji urges where he snaps and kills Yut Lung because canon hurts and I don't want to see my baby a broken doll anymore.
> 
> Also [atutsie's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/atutsie/pseuds/atutsie) fault

**Fields Beyond Fields**

 

The short summary of tonight was, the suspect requested that Charlie would accompany him for a quick walk down the memory lane.  
  
The ending had Charlie considering retirement because of this single case despite the years under his belt. Jenkins did mention that there will come a case that will haunt him until a gravestone rests on top of his head. Maybe this was it.  
  
Charlie could not believe it when he received the call first after visiting Nadia the third time that week. The suspect's voice was calm, evenly paced, and devoid of inhibitions. He specifically asked for Charlie's presence, not Jenkins, or even Max for crying out loud. Afterwards, he will turn himself in and plead guilty. None of the trial bullshit that will only shift to his favor anyway.  
  
They were to meet at the park behind the public library in (mention street), in front of their fountain. He requested that they open the library for him. Jenkin pulled the strings for Charlie.  
  
The suspect was clad in a green parka that was a size bigger than him. Charlie immediately recognize who the original owner was. He gave the NYPD inspector a hot dog rich in relish and sauerkraut.  
  
"Figured you didn't have time to grab anything," he said with a soft smile. His white shirt looked freshly washed and barely even ironed. Same with his ripped jeans that again, was a size bigger than him. "I can't thank you enough for this, Charlie-san. Let's go in. It's gonna be a long night."  
  
He wasn't bothered by the laser lights puncturing half of his body. The inspector signalled the snipers to retreat.  
  
"Thanks," the suspect said again, nodding at him. He put his hands in his pockets. It was still chilly during March.  
  
Charlie knew that the deafening silence they had as they went inside the dimly lit halls of the library, up the marbled carpeted staircase until they reached the third floor, was an invitation for inquiry. Or maybe space for him to eat his hotdog.  
  
Eiji was considerate like that. Enough for him to doubt his words over the phone.  
  
"How's Inspector Jenkins? Never got to ask." There was still the difficulty in Eiji's steps as they reached the second floor and was going up the third. He still hasn't fully recovered from his injuries, a product of returning to New York in haste. As he held onto Eiji he could make out the shape of a gun in his parka. He made no mention of it as they clambered up.  
  
"Doing well. Busy fussing over his daughters now though. One of them's gonna have a kid soon."  
  
"Ah, that's good to know." His two years in New York was enough for him to mask his Japanese accent to a certain degree. There was also that Brooklyn twang there too.  
  
He knew this was window dressing and waited for him to get to the main course.  
  
"Really feels like a library at night more," he then said. "And just as chilly."  
  
Charlie mumbled in agreement. "Didn't think you'd come back here."  
  
The suspect gave him a tinkling laugh. His black eyes seemed to glitter under the warm light. He looked older. "Yeah. Funny, huh? Always thought I'd manage to avoid this place for seven more years."  
  
Charlie didn't like how his smile grew sad around the edges of his mouth.  
  
"How's Sing?" he asked when they approached the accursed doors towards those haunted halls. He ignored the ceiling of judgmental angels and deities above them.  
  
"He still sleeps with me. He doesn't mind the extra time commuting to school," he shrugged. There was that laugh again. "Can you help open the door for me?"  
  
Charlie did not need to be asked twice. Eiji did not ask for assistance as he trudges inside and went right when they reached the first hall of books.  
  
"Where did they find him, Charlie-san?" he asked as he walked across the rows and rows of table almost through muscle memory. How many times had he visited this place, Charlie wanted to ask.  
  
Charlie walked behind the second chair from his right on the second row in front of the window.  
  
He thought at that instant, Eiji would lose it. He waited as he remained rooted at the spot, expression unreadable. He then took the plunge and went to the opposite end of the table, in front of the seat, turning on the light in front of it. He did not speak for a awhile as his eyes reacted as if examining an impressionistic painting; Van Gogh, perhaps.  
  
Charlie could barely even gulp as Eiji's fingers were his eyes this time, examining every nook and cranny.  
  
"It's clean," he said.  
  
Charlie could only nod. He did not want to look and pretended to be absorbed by the night sky on his left.  
  
"Makes sense. People might avoid it if they saw the blood," he continued as his hands left the hard wood. "Wish forgetting him was just as easy." He looked upwards and saw the pink painted sky- barely visible this time- on some pockets of the gilded ceiling. "Have you been here during the mornings or afternoons? The clouds do almost look real during daylight."  
  
He thought Eiji would elaborate. Instead he said he'll wait for him at the main hall.  
  
\--  
  
"Feels like a lifetime ago since I last rode something similar," Eiji said as they hitched a ride at the back of the truck along with some chickens enroute to Pittsburgh. "Got to taste Shorter's fried chicken when we went there. They got the ingredients by raiding a coop on the way."  
  
Eiji was playful and talkative, elbowing him lightly if Eiji had gotten fat during their roadtrip. Made his heart clench a little as he looked outside and pointed at the stars. He might tell Nadia at least, that he was able to see a jubilant Eiji no matter how many laws he was breaking. Sure enough, they reached a still sleepy Cape Cod. It was his first time there and Eiji was gracious enough to lead him on a long walk towards the Callenreese's house.  
  
"Ibe-san and Max-san slept on the bed while us three made our space over here," Eiji pointed at the dusty floor. Jim did not leave a will, and the state wouldn't start renovations until next week. No one dared to enter the property too. Said there was a permanent augury looming around the place. Griffin and Ash's house looked well-kept despite the thick layer of dust caking the place. Charlie would learn it was Eiji's fault. Before they left in a hurry, Eiji had set things in order.  
  
"The cans are still here, huh? Pretty obvious what his were." his eyes continued lighting up when they went outside. Earlier, he gave him a brief tour of the time he a rat jumped to attack him and Shorter swatted it for him. He pointed at the untouched cans with a chuckle and admitted those were his.  
  
Charlie, for his long years in the NYPD, already developed a knack for reading people to a minimal extent. There seemed to be no hint of blood in Eiji's hands and despite knowing he had a clear motive why, it still fucking eluded him how he was capable of unspeakable yet meticulous cruelty and when they saw the victim's heavily mutilated body just last night. He died a slow death, that was confirmed at least.  
  
Eiji must have read his mind then, or maybe because Charlie was an open book, as even the assistant inspectors will attest. The suspect sat down on the grass, chest levelled on his knees.  
  
"I read once that grief rewires the brain completely," said Eiji. "Makes you see the world in a funny way."  
  
Charlie sat down without a word. He was too busy marvelling at the crest of stars above then as well as shivering from the cold.  
  
"This was where he taught me to shoot for the first time. Only got to use it once though, and badly at that." The cans looked far more beautiful in his eyes. They did not even need a flashlight to see the waning moon and stars. "He was pretty snarky about teaching me too." His voice was still measured. Charlie guessed he had planned a long time for their talk to happen. Yet he had no fear talking to this boy despite lacking guns and men. He also had forgotten to update them on his location. Shit, he was really asking to be fired. "Still feels weird to not hear his voice, to be honest. Even if it has been half a year already. Enough time to ask myself what the hell I was doing grieving over someone who chose to die."  
  
"Eiji-"  
  
His voice did not break. "Sorry for startling you like that, Charlie-san. Really had me wondering too. I still can't believe it either. I thought it would be difficult but it was actually easy when you ignore the idea that your target is a human being. He had all the power in the world and did not know how to use it properly. Makes you pity him to an extent. He really was a tragic figure the moment he chose to seize the reins and ignore the people he'd wound along the way."  
  
Charlie readied himself as Eiji continued speaking.  
  
"He actually hated me. More than Ash. Thought himself as a hero who needed an equally compelling villain or rival to have a death match with. I was in the way. It is laughable... in theory I guess."  
  
_Not in the execution_ , Charlie noted sadly.  
  
"I do understand him more when I had a real talk with Sing. He's a boy given a title he did not ask for. I don't think he deserves most of the blame for letting his men run amok like that... Yau-Si, however... He really would push through with that convoluted plan to make Ash another chess piece to his little game. He did apologise though. I thought I can forgive him too. Sing did defend him once but would avoid the subject. It's just funny.  How you can value his life over someone else's. A cruel joke of sorts by the creator above, I guess."  
  
Charlie looked on. Eiji did not lose his benign expression despite the acid and bitterness in his words. he remembered that the victim's skin was flayed in his arms, neck, and legs aside from the rope marks on his wrists. There were cigarette marks on his body too.  
  
"Left him wearing his bottoms though. I do not plan on humiliating him, like Dino and Foxx. I just peeled back some skin to check if he truly was a snake underneath. Burned him to see if he was cold-blooded too. He did cry a lot. It was very painful, I suppose. It was my first time."  
  
"His top incisors were gone too."  
  
"Yes, I had to check if his fangs had poison. Blanca was the one who taught me to pull each tooth in the slowest manner possible. The blood gushed out like water."  
  
"He helped you?"  
  
"No, he only answered my questions," Eiji's  eyes looked empty. "It took me awhile to track him down. He wasn't too surprised when he heard the news. Knew he had it coming. It turned out he was the one who advised him to avoid me. I don't blame Blanca. A lot of adults weren't too hopeful of his prospects."  
  
Charlie swallowed at this. Eiji by then dusted his pants. It was getting late, he said, and he wanted to see the sunrise back in the city at least.  
  
\--  
  
Eiji kept Charlie occupied with the pictures he took as he grabbed the wheel of Jim's old truck. Eiji snapped plenty of pictures of their roadtrip and then their life in Ash's apartment.  
  
"He lied about his name," he said as Charlie looked on at the pictures. "Said Aslan was the Hebrew word for dawn. It was actually Turkish. For lion. Don't know where he pulled that from. Must be trying to impress me."  
  
"Makes for some poetic justice then where he ended up?" Charlie said. The mascot of the NYPL was a lion after all.  
  
"Do you think Ash deserved it?" Eiji then asked, eyes still fixated on the photos. "He did kill a lot of people and only cared about me."  
  
"He's not here to defend himself."  
  
"That is true." Eiji looked at a photo visible on Charlie's hands. There was he and Shorter swimming in the beach. "Death relieves you of your moral failings, doesn't it? What a lucky bastard."  
  
Eiji elaborated. "I just don't want to live a life of misery, pining over a man only alive in photographs. I can't see anything else beyond that."

  
\--

"Was there ever a thought of you taking him to Japan?" Charlie had the guts to ask as he went through the last set of pictures.  
  
"I gave him a ticket. Sing said he was coming to see me when the time came." Eiji laughed at this. "Must've changed his mind."  
  
Eiji wanted to walk around downtown Manhattan when they arrived earlier than expected.  
  
"Does Sing know about it?"  
  
"What I did? He must," Eiji shrugged. "The Lee head has been missing for quite sometime. He must be one of the first to have known about it."  
  
"Strange."  
  
Eiji laughed. "I guess he owes Shorter more than Yut Lung. Connections and power can only take you so far."  
  
"Sing must feel guilty too."  
  
"I know," Eiji said wearily. "And I don't care anymore."  
  
\--  
  
Charlie would find out from Jenkins that the damage on Eiji's legs was so severe that he can never return to pole vaulting.  
  
"I slept on the metro coming to the library," Eiji said as they smoked on the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge. The sky was just beginning to stir. He gave Charlie another stick when another one flew under the mercy of the freezing wind.  
  
"I do that all the time. Good thing you didn't miss your stop."  
  
Eiji's weary laughter tore at his ears again. "Yeah, lucky me," he took a deep drag.  
  
"Never knew you smoke."  
  
"Cheaper than crack. Or pills," he said. "And still a lightweight so alcohol's a no-no. Can't have Sing picking me up at the bar everytime when he has school the next day." He blew another puff. "Dreamed a different one coming to the lib. Just a field. Sun coming up. Looked like a laundry commercial. All white," he guffawed, pointing at his shirt. "My dreams were usually the same thing since I came back."  
  
Charlie wanted to ask what those dreams were but Eiji continued, "He was there. Looked confused. Grateful even. I held up my hand to him. Forgot why. Maybe because he was taking so slow. He squinted at the sun behind me. Then I woke up." He then took out Ash's gun and gave it to him. "You know, I still remember going down that bar and meeting Ash for the first time again. He gives me the gun. I giving it back." He threw the cigar at the water. "I still wish I didn't."  
  
Charlie looked on. Eiji really did not look like a murderer. He did not have the same intense gaze as the rest of the people surrounding him. There was neither hunger nor fury nor desperation in them. But he saw something else that made him think otherwise as his cold eyes turned brown at the rising sun.  
  
There was loss.  
  
"Should I not have killed him?" Eiji asked then. "Nothing changed."  
  
"Do you think you would have saved him too?" Really, after everything they've been through... After the aftermath that Jenkins and he could not participate in, he understood this man's frustration to a degree. New York had not been too kind to him  
  
Eiji merely looked on at the river before laughing.  
  
"I forgot the sunrise is the other way!"  
  
\--  
  
Maybe it was the clothes, but he could see Ash somewhere in Eiji. There was his manner of stuffing his hands on his pockets, the quick smolder that belied something deeper, or how his back seemed brittle under the weight of his trauma and tragedy that words can never truly convey.  
  
"His hands and feet are near the banks of the bird sanctuary," Eiji said. "It’s almost time, Charlie-san. Thank you again."  
  
"Can I ask you something Eiji?" Charlie asks then at this mess of a man. "Why do you still... After everything... Why do you still choose to live?"  
  
Eiji did not answer immediately. The glint in his eyes was undecipherable as his hands reached out in the inside of his parka and whips out papers, three or five with beautiful shades of burgundy, navy, cobalt, purple and red. Each of them had different patterns embellished with different characters from bunnies to koi fish and cranes drizzled or strung together in silver and gold. In an expression that would haunt him for the rest of his life asks, "Do you make origami for Nadia-san, Charlie-san?"  
  
"What-"  
  
"We were still in the apartment in Times Square then. He asked me to teach him how to make origami." His laugh this time was warm, tangible almost. "He refused before that, told us it's an activity for babies. Changed his mind because of a dream. A good dream," he smiled. "A dream where I didn't die, or leave him behind."  
  
Charlie looked on as Eiji began to fold the papers one by one. The first was a bird. "And in that dream, he had wings. Can't make these origamis fly though," he said as he gave them one-by-one to a confused Charlie. "I also want to experience that dream. So far my dreams had been pretty shitty except that one in the metro."  
  
After he finished his last origami he turned to Charlie, eyes impossibly full of hope despite what today will bring him. "Maybe I'll be able to say his name again then. I can finally watch him fly. And maybe he won't die, or leave me behind."  
  
Eiji wept.

 


End file.
